Updates from the field
January 28, 2010: Good news for donors.
US Donors: GIVE NOW and deduct from your ’09 Tax Returns
Thanks to a new bill passed by the US Congress, gifts made through February 28, 2010, for Haiti earthquake relief are eligible for a tax deduction on your 2009 return. Any gifts made to World Team for Haiti relief between January 12 and February 28 can be counted as a tax-deductible contribution on your 2009 tax returns.
Canadian Donors: Double the impact of your gift
The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) will match any donation made by a Canadian individual to the Haiti relief earthquake efforts. The gift must be made to a registered Canadian charity like World Team Canada, and given before Feb 12, 2010. Maximum gift per donor is $100,000.
More good news about the power of your donation
WT USA and WT Canada have lowered the administrative fee on all gifts made to the Haiti Recovery Project so that a full 95% of every donation will go directly to the needs of the Haitian people. That means that every dollar given will go even farther toward purchasing food, water and medical supplies, providing for immediate shelter, and helping with long-term rebuilding of radio and other infrastructure.
January 27, 2010: All that I hear around the radio station are happy sounds.
A report from Jerry Miel, former World Team missionary engineer with Radio Lumière (RL) who is back in Haiti to help restore the full functioning of the network.
Here I am back at RL in Cotes Plage. Everything is going well, but I am pretty tired. I hope to find a place to sleep soon. I think I will stay here at the studio tonight. There are 50 or more people camping out and working on the RL grounds. Some are employees who have no home to go to or are just afraid.
One need for RL is a structural engineer who can examine the building to assure the staff that it is structurally okay. Even then it may take a while to convince them that it is safe to work inside, but at least that would help.
There is a group here from New York, mostly Haitians, running an impromptu clinic at the church next door. The church has some damage and they are not using the building. There was a service going on outside in the yard. Broadcasting is taking place from a makeshift plywood and tarp structure in the yard. RL now has diesel fuel at the 3 locations and is broadcasting on FM about 15 hours per day.
Cayes is not on the air. That is why we are going there tomorrow, probably for a week or so. The roads are mostly clear now and they can get diesel fuel in drums. The money Paul Shingledecker (World Gospel Mission) brought last week got them started and what I brought (Missionary Project Promotions) will keep them going a little longer.
The main challenge right now is financial. It could take 3 months to restore the electric grid. The RL budget is $42,000/month and they lost all their local support income. The need for financial help from the U.S. and international community will be long term.
The scenes coming through town are not much different than in the news, except there are no more wounded and dead in the streets and rescue efforts are over. Flattened buildings are everywhere. Some are nothing but crushed rock. Others are stacks of flat slabs.
Most people are living outside. There are tents and makeshift structures all over. Local food is in good supply. The streets are covered with local market products. The problem for most people is the complete lack of money to buy anything.
The Haitian people are amazingly resilient and used to hardship. All that I hear around the radio station are happy sounds. There are aid groups and medical teams everywhere helping. That doesn’t mean that all of the needs are being met, but the response to the need here has been incredible.
January 27, 2010: Medical personnel are needed in Les Cayes and Bonne Fin. Teams will be organized through ministry partner Harvest International and sent to Haiti beginning in March. Visit www.harvestinternational.org for current needs and details about medical trips.
Camp Mahanaim serving as a refugee camp
Displaced earthquake victims from Port-au-Prince are finding temporary shelter and medical care at Camp Mahanaim in Cayes. The camp is under the direction of Rod and Debbie Wray, missionaries with Harvest International. They have been working hard to get the camp ready to open its doors to 200 school children per week beginning September 2010. But the immediate needs of the injured and homeless required a temporary change of plans.
The Wrays and others have been busy setting up tents, collecting food and supplies, and preparing to use Camp Mahanaim as a temporary refugee center to house 100 people initially, and possibly up to 200 more. The plan is to move them to more permanent housing after a 3 month period, but that will depend on the progress in Port-au-Prince. Immediate needs are for fuel and food.
While thankful to be able to meet these immediate needs, Rod and Debbie are eager to continue on with the vision of the Camp Mahanaim, so that when this huge relief effort is finished, the Haitian people will have a lasting project that will benefit them and point them to Jesus for years to come.
January 23, 2010: How World Team is helping Haiti. Blog post by Karry Kelley, World Team Area Director for the Americas.
January 23, 2010: Why? Blog post by Karry Kelley, World Team Area Director for the Americas.
January 22, 2010: Two million homeless. Blog post by Karry Kelley, World Team Area Director for the Americas.
January 21, 2010: Radio Lumiere – Where hope defies despair. Blog post by Karry Kelley, World Team Area Director for the Americas.
January 19, 2010: Stories from Les Cayes, by Sean Christensen
January 15, 2010: From WT missionary Sean Christensen in Les Cayes, Haiti – This group of local Haitian volunteers, many of whom are members of MEBSH churches, are headed to Port-au-Prince to help rescue people. They have received phone calls from trapped people who are safe for the moment, but need rescuing. The local phone service just came back online this morning, but it is still quite unreliable.
We provided this team with 2,400 packets of drinking water to take with them. The problem right now is that they can’t find enough gasoline here to make it to Port au Prince.
Supplies for some things in Cayes are already running low–fuel, medical supplies specifically. So far food is available but prices of some things have gone up 50% or so. Supplies will be short within a week or two, unless more supplies can get in. This also means we will be without electricity within a certain timeframe, unless supplies come, because both the grid generators and the Cite Lumiere generator run on diesel.
Status of some of the MEBSH churches in Port-au-Prince:
I don’t know the condition of the Cote Plage church, but the pastor, Samson Dorilasse is fine, as well as his family.
Pastor Napoleon from the Bellevue Salem MEBSH church is safe along with his family, but their house is severely damaged. I do not know about the church structure itself.
MEBSH President, Luders Erase, VP and Simon pastor, Ulysses Pharnest and IBL director, Jean Admettre planned to go to Port-au Prince early today to attempt connecting with MEBSH pastors to learn of their condition, their needs and to assess the damage to MEBSH property.
January 15, 2010: If you are a medical person interested in volunteering in Haiti, please contact Marie Monroe at Lumiere Ministries.
January 14, 2010: Good news! The headquarters and studios of both Radio Lumiere and Stereo 92 are still standing. Many of the WT-related churches, training, and medical ministries are located on the southern peninsula and are reporting in with minimal damage.
January 14, 2010: World Team has been privileged to minister in Haiti since 1936. We’ve experienced significant movements of God and walked besides Haitian brothers and sisters in the aftermath of many natural disasters. But this major earthquake will probably be worse than anything faced before. WT-Americas Area Director, Karry Kelly, and his team are preparing for a response to the emerging needs from our Haitian partners.
In the midst of such dark news we have the deep-seated joy of knowing that, in God’s economy, we’ve frequently been privileged to see the beauty of Christ and His agenda emerge from the rubble of disaster. We see evidences of God’s hand of mercy in this situation. No doubt, God is at work and cares for those who are in need and grieving.
While World Team is not a disaster relief agency, what we can do is try to help our partners recover and restore functionality to the people in their community.
Give now to the Haiti Recovery Project.
$50,000 will be raised to help provide:
- Medical assistance and sanitation services
- Emergency food and water
- Temporary shelters
- Restoration of communication networks including Radio Lumiere
- Hospital, orphanage, school, and church repairs
January 13, 2010: The images from Haiti’s capital bring sorrow to us all. We give thanks knowing that our World Team staff are safe, being located in the Les Cayes area away from the epicenter of the earthquake. Many World Team-related churches and the educational and medical ministries of our national partners are also located throughout the southern peninsula.
The epicenter was very near Port-au-Prince and the location of World Team-related Radio Lumiere and Stereo 92 broadcasting headquarters. The senior Haitian engineer has reported that buildings are standing and a visiting US engineering team is safe. It is not clear if the stations are on-the-air. Radio Lumiere is important as a means of spreading the gospel and news across Haiti, especially during times of catastrophe. Please pray for those trying to sustain radio broadcasts.
